The European Commission is to engage with local authorities to speed up the roll out of broadband to rural communities across the EU.
The initiative is aimed at making funding available to telecom operators to provide 5G connectivity in remote areas where installation is prohibitive due to cost.
A new Irish National Broadband contract will be signed next year to provide full broadband coverage across Ireland by 2020.
Tim Hayes of the EU office in Dublin said that the EU plan is designed to have every single remote region in Europe connected to the internet.
"We're really anxious to ensure that high-speed broadband as far and as quickly as possible," he said.
"And in that context, we're working really closely with the members of the committees of the regions, so that they can identify the specific areas of priority so they can get rural broadband quicker than others."